[T]he American taxpayer pays for much of this lifestyle. Recent records show in one year residents here collected more than $8-million from social services — including food stamps, welfare, health care — but the entire town paid less than $100,000 in income taxes.

“They are told to go on welfare,” Jessop said. “It’s called, “bleeding the beast.” They find it amusing that Satan is supporting God’s work.”

These groups came out of — and have split off from — the Mormon Church. Most, if not all, did so because the Mormon Church abandoned (for political convenience) plural marriage, a doctrine of which Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith said was “the most holy and important doctrine ever revealed to man on earth.”

As John Krakauer states, Smith taught that a man needed at least three wives to attain the “fullness of exaltation” in the afterlife. He warned that God had explicitly commanded that “all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same … and if ye abide not that covenenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory.”

Those who have separated themselves from the official Mormon Church are called Mormon fundamentalists. In most cases, their doctrines and practices are in fact closer to those of the original Mormon Church than are the doctrines and practices of today’s Mormon Church.

The Old Testament regulated, not forbade, polygamy. This led to the Catholic charge that the Jewish views on marriage allowed divorce and polygamy as opposed to monogamy without divorce which is Christ’s ideal. The New Testament only requires church officers to be husbands of one wife, disqualifying polygamists and serial monogamists(divorced and remarried)The Jewish ban on polygamy is actually unbiblical,having no scriptual command to do so. I can find no commandment in either Testament which forbids polygamy. The Bible does,however, speak of the hassles, headaches and heartaches associated with the practice.We need to look into Leverite marriage which was commanded.
If the kinsmen of the deceased were married, polygamy may have been a factor.
In missionary fields, polygamists have benn converted, there is difference of opinion in whether the convert remains polygamous, disqualifying him from Church office, or he needs to put his additional wives away, violating New Testament teaching on divorce and remarriage.

I for one prefer polygamy over involuntary celibacy.As a Protestant and Evangelical, I am extremely wary and suspicious of celibacy which is more associated with Catholicism.
Islam instituted polygamy as a means to look after widows and orphans.
The Mormon Church instituted it, in part, because the early LDS had far more women than men giving rise to concerns that prostitution might become a problem which LDS leadership would not tolerate.

Given the recent tiff over same sex marriage,and efforts to define marriage as between ONE man and ONE woman,this contraversy could lead to the legalization of polygamy in this country if it goes the wrong way.

Stephen RodenboughNovember 23, 2008

Polygamy part two:

The fact of the polygamous sects in the American Southwest being reprehensable is due as much to older men marrying underage girls (which is statutory rape) and banishing underage boys so they can marry the underage girls (which is child abandonment) The whole process is altogether criminal.They would do better by recruiting prostitutes into their cult, that would be more in keeping with nineteenth century Mormon doctrine than raping little girls. Besides, polygamy is illegal in these United States in all fifty states. As I have before written, a suit filed by a Mormon or Moslem could overturn the ban on polygamy in these United States.

EthelMarch 30, 2009

It is interesting to note that Polygamy is now a legality in Canada. The State of Saskatchewany now allows the legal recognition of multiple same time spouses. They use Section 51 of their Family Property Act which states that a person can have numerous spouses for the purposes of the act. The act, interestingly, defines “Spouse” in all that state’s over-all legislation. As such, Polygamy is legal north of the border.
Their Criminal Code, which is a Federal law, can be ignored apparently by each state at the whim of their Family court judges. In the USA, any judge who ignores Federal Law, eg. murder or such a Federal Law, would themselves be charged.

oldirishmanOctober 1, 2012

What happened to: “Forsaking all others, cleaving only unto her, until death do you part” Polygamy is debauchery masquerading as religion! It is destructive to both women and children! Females are coerced/brainwashed into going along with it, but I read of the anguish women suffer anyway. Boys are kicked out on the street, to make more “wives” available to the old men leaders. Welfare fraud is rampant! Whas man can support that many people on one job?

secondwifeJuly 28, 2013

People need to keep in mind here that polygamy is not all about marrying underage girls, having 20 kids and abusing the social services system and raking in hundreds of thousands in welfare. There are Triads, like mine (there ARE A LOT of us) that pool resources, are financially responsible and practice fidelity within our “family”. We work, volunteer, pay taxes, go to church, and our kids go to school. We’re otherwise law abiding citizens made into criminals by those that don’t understand our lifestyle choice. We aren’t harming anyone, and not taking advantage of society’s resources. All we ask for is the basic recognition and the ability to not have to hide in order to preserve our jobs (my male significant other has a federal job that he could lose if the wrong someone found out and made it an issue), and not to be ostracized by society. We’re not asking that you love us, but just that you let us love each other.